Soldier wounded after pot raid in elite Turkish barracks: Report

ISPARTA

Some soldiers were reportedly smoking pot at a commando barrack in a western province. DHA photo

A major general, accompanied by two senior soldiers, personally commanded a raid on soldiers being trained at the Eğridir Mountain Commando School, an elite unit in the western province of Isparta, following a notice of drug use, according to a report in daily Taraf. One soldier was mistakenly wounded by a shot fired by a friend while trying to escape during the raid, the newspaper also quoted sources as saying.

Major General Ethem Büyükışık did not inform even the high-ranking soldiers on duty on the evening of the raid, according to the report. Civil prosecutors have reportedly launched an investigation into the incident.

The operation was initiated following a notice that three soldiers were smoking pot in the barracks, with the notice passing from a captain to the major general in the chain of command.

A colonel and a non-commissioned officer accompanied Büyükışık during the raid, the Taraf report stated.

Before the operation, a small group spied on the three soldiers smoking pot with the help of infra-red equipment, it added.

However, as the group did not know the identity of the smokers, one of the soldiers tried to escape and a guard soldier shot him after warning him to freeze, mistakenly thinking that he was a terrorist, the report said.

The soldier was heavily wounded in his spinal cord and bowel, it said.